Patna: RJD leaders who created a chaos during the Commo-nwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) - India region meet at Gyan Bhavan on Saturday explained what made them shout slogans against the government in front of foreign delegates.
RJD state unit president Ram Chandra Purbey, RJD state unit vice-president Tanveer Hasan, former minster Shiv Chandra Ram, former minister Alok Mehta and MLA Rajendra Ram were at the centre of the melee, shouting slogans like " Sushil Modi chor hai" in the auditorium.
The chaos began when deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, without naming RJD chief Lalu Prasad, said in his speech that four former chief ministers were behind bars on corruption charges.
Purbey claimed that all the RJD MLAs, including former lawmakers, were peacefully listening to the speakers until Modi made the statement. He also claimed that had Modi not provoked them, the programme would have continued peacefully.
"The motive behind the CPA was to discuss good governance, democracy and human rights but Sushil Modi diverted the issue. The meeting was to discuss the functioning of the parliamentary system in different states and country but Modi made it a political platform," Purbey said.
He accepted that though Modi did not name the four chief ministers, it was a jibe at Lalu. "Instead of talking about the parliamentary system, Modi jumped into the topic of corruption. He said four ex-chief ministers are in jail on corruption charges. It was obvious that he was targeting Lalu ji and we raised slogans against him and boycotted the event," Purbey added.
Purbey stressed that if anyone tries to insult their leader they will not sit quiet.
Another RJD MLA, Mehta, said the event was more like a show to glorify the work of the Bihar government and it was only self-praise.
Reacting to the chaos, Sushil Modi said: "Their anger reminds one of the Hindi idiom ' Chor ki daadhi mein tinka (A guilty conscience fears every knock on the door because he is constantly in a fear that he's going to be caught). The RJD leaders should say whether Lalu Prasad has gone to jail for taking part in some agitation or holding a Satyagraha andolan. He has gone to jail in the fodder scam corruption case."
